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Cigars, villages and rafting in Santander
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I found the heat pretty intense on the coast, so after another night back in Taganga, I headed south to Bucarramanga and then on to San Gill in Santander. The road from Bucarramanga was spectacular - especially over the canyon. I ended up staying 4 days in San Gill, partly because I was waiting for the river conditions to settle down so that I could white-water raft. My first afternoon, I met another Canadian traveller, who I ended up going hydro-surfing with down the nearby river. We basically had to go down the river rapids on body boards, head first. The rapids were only class 2 or 3, but you can really feel them on the boards! The next morning I was really keen to raft down the Suarez (notorius for class 5 plus rapids - the max you can raft down without killing yourself), but the water level was too high. Instead we ended up getting a bus out to a small farm (near Chaleras) with a trail leading to some spectacular waterfalls. This was such a hidden gem - after climbing over a few rocks we got to the first fall and a wooden ladder so that we could climb up to the next level. The whole thing was a series of about 6 or 7 cascades or more - you could walk through the pools and stand so close to each edge that you could see the water falling down.
Rafting the next day was incredible! I was a bit nervous as I had never done it before...and especially because of all the hype I had surrounding the size of the rapids. I managed to stay on the raft...although one guy from our one fell in and the other raft capsized, trapping everyone under. They all managed to get out and 3 ended up being pulledd on to our raft - 2 of the really heavy guys ended up closest to my spot, so I had to do some rescuing...actually quite fun. The river run took about 1 and a half hours with a break in between...and there were about 15 rapids in total. A couple of them were 5 or 5 plus, and even the guides were shitting themselves (in spanish) - saying that the water level has risen since the morning...and that the rapids will be too big for us. Rowing was actually really fun - everyone on our raft was quite into it...Sometimes I would be rowing and my ore would just hit thin air because we were flying! At the end I was actually wishing I had fallen into the water - just to see what it would be like under the rapids. Next time, maybe...
Aside from the rafting my highlight of San Gill was the visit to Baricharra - a traditional and sleepy village about 40 mins way. I went with a group of travellers from a nearby hostel. The town survives off tourism and tobacco....and has a very lost-in-time kind of feel to it. Some streets were completely deserted, and others just dropped off the edge of the mountains so all you could see was the blue sky ahead. We visited a small cigar factory - and the woman showed us how to roll one up...She had just started up this small scale business 4 years ago, and already her brand (Gordelia) is one of Colombia's best. The other travellers weren't so keen to make an afternoon walk to Guane, an even smaller village nearby, so they headed back. I decided to walk an old stone trail (El Camino Real) to Guane alone...The walk was long, but mostly down hill...and at several points I just hoped I was on the right path. The views were spectacular - you just had mountains and valleys ahead - and the only noises were that of birds and the wind. The worst point was when I came into a small herd of cows and what I thought could have been a bull - they were right in the middle of my path, and I was too scared to walk past in case I got charged at by the bull. There was nobody else around to ask for help, so I seriously considered all my options, including climbing up the small stone wall and walking along the top of it to get past..or whether I would quickly be able to jump across if something happened. As it turns out, the "bull" ended up being just a large cow with big horns - so I picked up the courage to continue forwards. Towards the end of trail there were a few sparsely dotted farmhouses...and I met a really friendly old woman on the street. She was small and frail but carrying a large sack of fruit attached to her head with a rope. It was as if she was really relieved to see me (or any living being) at that moment for the company - she was really chatty and overly familiar - as if she hadn't seen a young person for a long time. I got the impression that Guane was pretty deserted and stuck in time as she said she was visiting her cousins who lived in these farmhouses all alone as their children had moved away. 2 and a half hrs after I set out, I finally got to Guane - and the first thing that struck me was the lack of people. The roads were old, narrow and hidden...but completely empty. The only people I could see hanging about were old people. Especially old men with their traditional hats. I wandered over to the main plaza - which was quite big - but again, bare. The huge church and park benches looked unvisited...and there was just an old guy sweeping the dusty ground in the square.
Before heading back to Medellin, I spent a night in Bogota, where I met up with Catalina. I joined her at her friend's birthday party in La Zona Rosa...but was refused entrance because of my flip flops!! Apparently that is a sign of poverty in Colombia. I had to go to Cata's house to change into her shoes, and when I came back the bouncer said the manager still wouldn't let me in. I was so annoyed that I went up to him directly and asked him what the problem was here...and he couldn't say anything so he just allowed me in. That is really the kind of attitude I hate in cities. More thumbnails ...
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